A Popular History of Ireland: from the Earliest Period to the Emancipation of the Catholics, Book 04

By: Thomas D’Arcy McGee (1825-1868)

Thomas D’Arcy McGee was an Irish refugee and a father of the Canadian confederation. His work on Irish history is comprehensive, encompassing twelve books; Book 4 begins with the first Norman invasion of the island and continues to the end of the 13th century.

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This etext was produced by Gardner Buchanan with help from
Charles Aldarondo and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team.

A Popular History of Ireland: from the Earliest
Period to the Emancipation of the Catholics

by Thomas D'Arcy McGee

PUBLISHERS' PREFACE.

Ireland, lifting herself from the dust, drying her tears,
and proudly demanding her legitimate place among the
nations of the earth, is a spectacle to cause immense
progress in political philosophy.

Behold a nation whose fame had spread over all the earth
ere the flag of England had come into existence. For 500
years her life has been apparently extinguished. The
fiercest whirlwind of oppression that ever in the wrath
of God was poured upon the children of disobedience had
swept over her. She was an object of scorn and contempt
to her subjugator. Only at times were there any signs of
life an occasional meteor flash that told of her olden
spirit of her deathless race. Degraded and apathetic as
this nation of Helots was, it is not strange that political
philosophy, at all times too Sadducean in its principles,
should ask, with a sneer, "Could these dry bones live?"
The fulness of time has come, and with one gallant sunward
bound the "old land" comes forth into the political day
to teach these lessons, that Right must always conquer
Might in the end that by a compensating principle in
the nature of things, Repression creates slowly, but
certainly, a force for its overthrow... Continue reading book >>